


we who dwell (in this far land)

by reachingforthestardust



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Road Trips, This is vaguely set post-Season 1 as I haven't seen season 2 or 3 yet, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, kara is a massive dork with zero control over her motor mouth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-17 20:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13084434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reachingforthestardust/pseuds/reachingforthestardust
Summary: Alex took the lead, and as they walked through the DEO, tossed back over her shoulder, “Oh, Lucy, if Kara gets on your nerves, you have my permission to tie her to the roof racks.”“Hey!” Kara objected.Lucy grinned. “If her music taste is as bad as you claim, I might do just that.”





	we who dwell (in this far land)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kobuzero](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kobuzero/gifts).



Kara’s day was going about as well as was expected. That is to say, it was not going as planned, which in itself was an understatement. Her day had probably started going wrong, Kara mused, when she had made the incredibly mature decision to have ice-cream for breakfast, instead of a normal and healthy meal.

But that was in the past now, and Kara had other, more pressing issues to worry about. The man approaching her, for one. His disturbingly large and most-likely alien-enhanced weapon? gun? whatever it was, was also something her attention should probably be on, rather than the what-ifs that could have been her breakfast. The man, every bit a jock stereotype, smirked at her.

“Alex?” Kara asked, “What does that gun do?”

“Kara.” Alex replied dryly. “How am I supposed to know that?”

“Super-invasive and mildly creepy databases on literally everything?” Kara retorted, and winced, because that was Alex’s eyebrow of doom going up. She didn’t need super-senses to know her sister’s expressions. And her lack of tolerance and slight amusement at Kara’s ‘antics’.

“You’ve been spending far too much time with Winn,” Alex said. “Eyes on the prize, Supergirl.”

Kara neatly side-stepped a blast from – what was he calling himself? MegaDoom? Who had clearly thought she was distracted by her chatter to her sister (he thought wrong, obviously). The villains really needed to get better names, at least in Kara’s opinion. Maybe she was biased, fighting various rogue aliens or metahumans every week. Behind her, she noted a dumpster was no longer a dumpster, and more of a pile of ashes.

“Alex, whatever those guns are, they’re nasty. Disintegratingly nasty.” Kara paused for a moment, focusing on the weapon. “And there’s a logo on it, an ‘S’ and a ‘C’, and some sort of skull logo, but there’s wings coming out of the skull.”

“I don’t think disintegratingly is a word,” Alex snorted. “Vasquez is running database searches now.”

A sudden movement to Kara’s left caught her eye, and she muttered a Kryptonian curse that would have made Astra proud. A second man, wielding a second gun was approaching. “Where the hell did he come from?”

“Who?” Alex asked, all humour gone.

“The second guy with another one of those guns,” Kara said. She sounded far more calm than she felt. “He came out of nowhere, literally.”

“Crap.”

“Very helpful, thanks,” Kara said, launching herself into the air to avoid simultaneous blasts. “Any luck with the search?”

“The weapons are made by Schändlich Corporation. They’re involved with genetic research and weapons development,” Vasquez said over the comms. Kara sighed. It was always one of the two, and now it was both? What. a. day.

“Odd combination,” Kara muttered. Villain Number 1 (she couldn’t call him MegaDoom and take him seriously) fired at her again and she swore again. “Right, you’re going down.” She dropped from the air behind Number 1, kicking him in the soft area behind the knees, hard enough to take a grown man down, gentle enough that he wouldn’t require a knee replacement. At least, not until he was 80 or so.

Villain Number 1, however, did not drop like he should have. He whipped around lightning fast, slamming the gun into Kara’s side, knocking her back, into the path of a blast from Villain 2’s gun. And then Kara was in pain. Agony shot threw her bones, far worse than the time she’d broken her arm. She looked at the men, eyes wide – they were far stronger than any human should be.

“Who are you?” Kara called to them, circling around. She grit her teeth against the pain. “Why are you doing this?”

Number 2 ignored her, but Number 1 smiled at her. He gave no other answer. That in itself made Kara nervous. A silent villain was a deadly one. Well, hopefully not deadly in this case. Kara lifted her hands. “Whatever you want, we can talk about this. We don’t have to fight.” More silence. “I guess we’re fighting then.”

A laugh from Number 1 startled her, and Kara fought down the urge to flinch. Her skin felt like it was on fire, and it looked like her foes knew. “What’s so funny?” She snapped.

“This is an execution,” Number 1 said flatly. He stopped chuckling. “Your time on Earth is done.” At that, both of the men fired at her. Kara tried to jump into the air too avoid the shots but she barely rose a foot off of the ground before she was struck. A scream tore from her throat as the pain that had been bearable before consumed her. The ground around her caught fire, and she stumbled to her knees before darkness floated across her vision.

 

Kara snapped into a sitting position and immediately regretted it. The soft light of the DEO medical room surrounded her, but did nothing to lessen the pain pounding her ribs. Yikes. What had happened? How did she get here?

“Alex?” Kara asked, looking around herself. Her sister was nowhere to be seen, so she tried to listen to locate her but nothing more than the sound of her breathing and muffled noises reached her. It was like she was – “Not again,” Kara groaned, thumping back down, and once again, regretting her choice to shift faster than her body could handle.

“Be careful,” Alex said lightly, waltzing in like Kara and her were at movie night. “By all rights you should be dead,” Alex commented. Both women frowned at the tattered material of the Supergirl uniform that had thankfully been removed while she was unconscious. A simple hospital gown replaced it. “You should be a pile of dust right now. Instead, you’re human for a little while. You’re lucky those guys left you for dead.”

Kara’s forehead crinkled. “What happened? I.. I don’t remember anything after they tag-teamed me.”

Alex nodded in understanding, perching on the bed beside Kara. “After you lost consciousness we scrambled a team and found you there unconscious. It was pretty close for a while.” Alex stopped, looking away from her sister. Kara grabbed her hand.

“I’m still here,” she murmured. Alex nodded, but her eyes betrayed her. She must’ve been absolutely terrified, Kara realised, and she gave Alex a clumsy hug, the best she could do with her ribs feeling like, well, pain. When Alex looked at her next, some of the anxiety had left her gaze.

“We brought you back, and put you under the solar lights, but judging from last time, you’re going be out of commission for a while. Which is a problem.”

“Yeah, I know,” Kara replied grumpily. “I’m human.”

Alex snorted. “Not only that, but you’re vulnerable. And we found out that Schändlich is closely associated with the Army; they’ve done a lot of work with General Lane in the past. And with the Army still sticking their nose in, we can’t let you be seen here. For now, they most likely thing that you’re dead.”

“So what’s the plan?” Kara asked, shifting to get a better view of Alex’s face. Her sister frowned.

“We can’t protect you Kara. At least, not here. We need you out of the city and fast.”

Kara nodded. “Makes sense, they won’t expect that, whoever Schändlich really are. Supergirl doesn’t work outside National City. But how am I going to leave? I can’t drive and I can’t fly right now, so.” Alex smiled, and suddenly Kara was wary. “What did you do?”

“She called me,” said a cool voice from the doorway, and there was – oh god, Alex had called Lucy. “We’re going on a trip. It’ll be fun.”

“What?”

Alex laughed at Kara’s expression. “Lucy can drive, and she can hold her own in a fight. She’s the perfect bodyguard.” She leaned in to whisper in Kara’s ear, “and she’s pretty.” Kara flushed hotly. Great, she did that now she didn’t have super alien complexion powers.

“I told you that in confidence! Not so you could set us up!” Kara protested, keeping her voice low as Lucy watched on, an amused expression playing in her eyes, even though her lips didn’t so much as twitch. And they were very nice lips, Kara had to admit.

“We should probably leave soon,” Lucy interrupted. Kara nodded, and tried to get up, nearly knocking Alex off the bed in her haste.

Thankfully, Lucy was there to catch her sister, although she directed a raised eyebrow at Kara. “Even without powers you can still cause trouble,” she said dryly. Kara only wished a little bit that she could sink into the ground and hide.

Lucy’s attention was like a spotlight, making her hot and nervous. When she was Supergirl, she could handle Lucy’s focus, but as Kara? Well, Kara was a bit of a mess at the best of times. And for some reason, which was an issue Kara was definitely not avoiding, Lucy seemed to increase her dorkiness tenfold. Which she did not need. She was already dorky enough.

With Alex safely out of the way, Kara managed to stand, albeit unsteadily. “Oh, I’d forgotten how much I don’t like being human,” she muttered and Alex rolled her eyes.

“Stop being dramatic,” she scolded, before thrusting some clothes at Kara. “Now get dressed and shoo. We’ll deal with the problem so you don’t have to. Let me protect you for once.”

Kara smiled gently at Alex. “Alright,” she said. “I can’t do much like this anyway.” Then she blushed. “Uh, Lucy? Can you um. leave?” She waved her pile of clothes weakly and Lucy nodded with a smirk.

“Of course. I’ll be right outside,” Lucy said as she stepped out of the med room and closed the door. Immediately, Kara turned to glare at Alex.

“You planned this,” she accused, and Alex shook her head.

“Just took the opportunity. We all know you never would,” Alex retorted and Kara tilted her head dangerously. Before she could say anything, Alex nodded her head towards the clothes. “Better get dressed or I might just call Lucy in early,” she teased, and Kara huffed at her.

“You wouldn’t,” Kara said, but she pulled on the pants and shirt roughly, shoving her glasses on her face. “Shoes?” She asked and Alex shrugged.

“Your Supergirl boots will have to do. Besides, they make your legs look great. Now go and have a fun trip, I’ll call you when you’re safe to come back.” Kara nodded, before pulling Alex into another hug.

“Be safe,” Kara whispered into her sister’s hair. Alex pulled back so she could look Kara in the eyes.

“Of course. You be careful too. Text me every 12 hours.” Alex smiled at Kara, and Kara did her sister the courtesy of not mentioning the small tremble of lips. “Let’s go. I’ll walk you and Lucy to the garage.”

Outside the room Lucy was waiting patiently, and nodded at the pair when they walked out. “Ready Kara?”

Kara nodded in a way that she hoped looked more confident than she felt. “Let’s do this.”

Alex took the lead, and as they walked through the DEO, tossed back over her shoulder, “Oh, Lucy, if Kara gets on your nerves, you have my permission to tie her to the roof racks.”

“Hey!” Kara objected.

Lucy grinned. “If her music taste is as bad as you claim, I might do just that.”

 

One very awkward hour later, Lucy and Kara were practically out of National City, but for a few sprawling hobby farms. The trip had been mostly silent but for a small argument over the radio. Lucy won. Kara pretended to the imaginary Alex in her head that she had let her, and that Lucy’s sheer force of will and well-timed threats had not cowed her. Even imaginary Alex didn’t believe her.

“I have a question,” Lucy said after a while.

“Oh, sure,” said Kara. She pushed her glasses up. “What is it?”

“How do you get your hair to stay so neat after flying and fighting?”

“Um,” said Kara eloquently. “It just does?”

“No hairspray?”

“No?”

“Must be your weird alien genes,” Lucy mused, throwing an amused glance at Kara who definitely did not immediately commit that look to memory and aspire to receive it at least once more. Wow, she was … yeah she was gone on Lucy. Silence resumed, but this time it was far less uncomfortable. It was.. nice.

Kara peeked at Lucy as the smaller woman drove, her eyes flitting from the rear-view mirror to the road, to the side mirrors and back again. It was almost entrancing, the way that when Lucy focused, she always gave her whole. Kara had never seen Lucy give anything less than her best, not even when she was sleep deprived and sick. Rao, she’d given up her career for her ex-boyfriend, moved cities and then stayed even after the relationship ended for good because she didn’t want to lose her best friend. Lucy was amazing, Kara mused.

“So,” Lucy said offhandedly, “ever been on a road trip before?”

Kara shook her head. “No,” she said wryly. “I always flew if I wanted to travel.”

“Somehow I’m not surprised.”

“Thank you for doing this,” Kara said suddenly. “I know you’re busy now that you’ve got that job with the Navy.”

“Kara, it’s no problem. I’m basically a glorified grad student there until I prove myself because so much of my other work was classified,” Lucy said, a slight trace of bitterness, or was it regret? in her voice. “I should have gone back to Cat, but I didn’t want to make James even more uncomfortable.”

Kara looked more closely at Lucy. “You don’t seem unhappy,” she blurted, before she realised that probably came out rude. She pushed her glasses up. “I mean, like, in a good way? You always seem like nothing shakes you but I guess of course it does, you’re a person, obviously you have feelings and stuff, and –”

“Kara,” Lucy said bemusedly, “breathe.”

Kara dipped her head, her cheeks burning. Rao, what she’d give to have her usual control over her complexion back. How did humans do it all day every day? “Sorry,” she muttered.

“Hey, look at me,” Lucy ordered, and Kara obeyed. No one ignored the ‘I am Lucy Lane and you will listen to me’ tone. “I’m not offended. I am good at hiding my feelings, it’s true.” Her eyes flicked to the mirrors and back to the road, briefly resting on Kara. “I like to be in control,” she said, raising her shoulders. “Most of the time, it’s helpful but other times, I wish I was more like you.”

“What?” Kara said. “Really?”

Lucy twitched her head in agreement. “Yeah. I sometimes… have trouble telling people how I feel. It’d be nice if people could just read my expression in some cases.”

“Oh,” Kara replied. “I have the opposite problem, I kind of babble too much and embarrass myself, and then I ramble to get rid of the awkwardness and then it just gets even more awkward, and then people look at me like I’m an alien, which I am, but they don’t know that.”

Lucy waited patiently, a small smirk tugging at her lips, and that managed to shut Kara up. Mostly. “Uh, kind of like that,” she finished. Lucy just looked amused, but unlike most other people, not annoyed or creeped out.

“You’re cute,” Lucy said bluntly, and Kara went crimson.

“Oh,” she squeaked, and adjusted her glasses as she carefully kept her gaze off of Lucy. Who knew what she’d say if she met Lucy’s eyes after that statement. She thought she heard Lucy sigh quietly, but told herself it was her imagination.

After a few tension-filled minutes, Kara shifted in her seat, tugged her cardigan off and shoved it on the window. “I’m going to take a nap,” she said once she had regained a modicum of control over her voice, her eyes meeting Lucy’s for the briefest of moments. Lucy inclined her head in acknowledgement, and turned the radio down slightly. Kara gave her a slight smile, and the unspoken pressure lifted.

“Have a good sleep,” Lucy murmured. Kara rested her head against the window, her makeshift cardigan pillow just enough of a barrier to mute the vibrations of the road from jarring to soothing. It didn’t take long before she was snoring softly, and Lucy allowed herself a small smile at that. Who knew Supergirl snored?

Hours later and well into the night Lucy stretched an arm out and lightly shook Kara, who grumbled drowsily at her, barely awake. “Wake up sleepyhead. We’re a few miles out of a small town that we can stay in for the night.”

“Mmm,” said Kara.

“There should be a motel we can stay at,” Lucy said, resisting the urge to coo at the sight of a sleepy Kara.

“Sounds good,” Kara said, before promptly turning her face into her pillow and starting to snore again. Lucy laughed quietly, shaking her head at the other woman. The short drive left passed quickly, and soon Lucy was pulling into a motel. She eyed Kara and debated trying to wake her again before shrugging and leaving her sleeping in the car as she went to book a room.

 

For the second time in two days, Kara woke up in a room that she had not fallen asleep in. This time was more disconcerting than the last because at least she’d recognised the DEO. She almost panicked before spotting Lucy dosing on the bed beside hers. Oh. They were at a hotel.

Kara shifted quietly, but even the slight noise woke Lucy. “Oh good,” Lucy said sleepily. “You’re awake.”

“Barely,” Kara admitted. “Being human is exhausting.”

Lucy grinned at her. “I’d say so. You were so out of it last night that I had to carry you in,” she said cheekily and Kara’s jaw dropped.

“No.”

“Oh yes,” Lucy said proudly, waking up more. “You snuggled like a kitten too.” Kara buried her head in her hands and said something that Lucy couldn’t make out. “What was that?”

Kara lifted her hands from her face long enough to say “I’m so embarrassing,” before hiding again, and Lucy giggled. Honest to Rao, giggled. Kara looked up, startled, and Lucy gave her a nonchalant look.

“What?” Lucy asked.

“You’re tiny,” Kara stated. “How did you carry me?”

“In my arms,” Lucy responded dryly. She looked vaguely amused at Kara’s mortification. “We should probably head off soon. You can take a quick shower if you want,” she nodded at a door Kara hadn’t noticed.

“Ah, yeah, I feel icky,” Kara said, sniffing her underarm. “I never sweat usually.”

Lucy made a strange noise. Kara looked at her, and Lucy raised an eyebrow. “Welcome to humanity,” she told her.

Not even ten minutes later, Lucy and Kara were on the road again (Kara had definitely taken a shower). To Kara’s great relief, none of the tension from the day before remained, and she could pretend that she and Lucy were just two friends on a trip. Which she realised, wasn’t so much of a daydream, because before all else, Lucy and her were friends. Committing crimes together had been an excellent bonding experience, as had their casual chats about a certain ex-boyfriend/ex-almost-boyfriend.

It had been uncomfortable at first, talking about such a sensitive topic, but Lucy had a way of making Kara spill everything, even things she hadn’t told Alex. It was probably then, Kara realised, that she had fallen more than a little for the dark haired woman. Unfortunately, the chances of her feelings being reciprocated were low. Lucy’s type was people like James, calm and collected, always with a backup plan and a press pass in hand.

Kara was the opposite of that. She stressed easily, always made a fool of herself at the worst times and was nowhere near elegant enough to be suitable for Lucy. Lucy was so beautiful and graceful, so put-together and in control.

“You’re thinking hard,” Lucy commented, breaking Kara’s train of thought.

“Um,” said Kara, “I think you’re really pretty and I really like you! Oh Rao I said that out loud.” She slapped her hand across her mouth but the damage was done. Lucy looked at her in surprise, before indicating and pulling off the road. She parked the car, and turned to look at Kara seriously.

“Do you mean that?” Lucy asked, and oh Rao, she was using her command voice again. Kara sunk down in her seat.

“Yes,” Kara said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“Kara,” Lucy soothed, “I’m not uncomfortable at all. I’m flattered.”

"Oh," said Kara in a small voice. 

Lucy fixed Kara with a stern gaze. "Don't you dare feel bad about expressing yourself. Remember what I said yesterday?" She paused, and Kara twitched in acknowledgement, pushing her glasses up and looking away. Lucy gave her a gentle smile. "For what it's worth, I like you too." 

Kara's head jerked up to meet Lucy's eyes. "What?"

Lucy smirked at her. "I know you don't have super hearing at the moment, but I'm fairly certain you heard what I said."

Kara blinked as Lucy held her gaze. "You like me?" She clarified and Lucy gave her a  _look_ that said 'obviously'. Kara wondered when she'd become so good at reading Lucy's expressions. "Then," Kara hesitated before figuratively charging onward, "do you want to uh, go on a date?" She mentally smacked her head. Good one, Kara, you've both admitted your feelings and you still can't get a full sentence out without stammering. 

Lucy, for her part, beamed at Kara. "I would love that," she said happily. "Let's head back, and I'll take you up on it." 

"Wait, is it safe?" Kara asked, mind flashing back to the agony of the Schändlich weapons. 

Lucy looked sheepish. "About that," she said, "Alex called me last night. They got the evidence they needed and the DEO raided the facility. You're fine to return."

Kara stared at Lucy. "Then why were we still driving away?" 

"Oh," Lucy blushed, "I wanted to spend more time with you." Kara stared some more, before reaching over to Lucy and grabbing her hand.

"I'm glad," Kara said, and Lucy flushed again. About time someone else was going red, Kara thought. Lucy's lips twitched upwards as she looked at Kara from under her lashes, and Kara acted on impulse, bringing her other hand up to the other woman's cheek. Lucy lent into her touch ever so slightly, and Kara's heart melted.

"Was this what you were heading at yesterday?" Kara asked, and Lucy nodded.

"You're a bit slow on the uptake sometimes," she drawled.

Kara shrugged in embarrassment. "Would a kiss make-up for that?" She asked, and Lucy didn't bother with an answer. Well, not a verbal one at least. Kara thought her heart was going to explode when Lucy's lips met hers, and their noses bumped. They pulled apart after a brief moment and looked at each other, grinning. 

"I'm so happy right now," Lucy said lightly, and Kara leaned over the gear stick and pulled her into an awkward hug, pressing her face into Lucy's dark hair.

"Me too," she murmured, "me too."

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt for this was 'road trip' and I hope that you all enjoy this! The title comes from the 'Elven Hymn to Elbereth' by J.R.R. Tolkien. Happy Holidays everyone!


End file.
